Salem Restaurant Reputation Improving

Publisher Steve Forrester from the Daily Astorian was impressed by the dining scene in Salem recently and wrote about it in his paper. Here's a link to the article titled "Great food in Salem, Who knew?" I think if you live in Salem you know things are getting better here and this is one of the first indicators that word is getting out. Steve ate dinner one night at La Capitale and came back for lunch the next day. Here's a quote from the article.

"This is news, because nothing I've consumed in our state capital over the past few decades has come close to what La Capitale offers."

Maybe we should expect a surge of tourists coming to Salem from Astoria.

Thank goodness Portland is only a short drive away. Walking through the Pearl last night and seeing all there is to offer makes one realize ..... Salems dining scene is horrible and always has been and always will be. Most here consider Olive Garden and Applebees fine dining.

I'm not sure why anyone would compare the number and variety of restaurants in a metro area as large as the Vancouver, Portland and Beaverton area to the Salem area. A 2007 population estimate says that 2,159,720 people live in the Portland metro area. While a 2000 estimate counts 347,214 for the Salem metro area. Doesn't that make Portland nearly 6 times the size of Salem? Personally, I think Salem has a lot to offer and it just keeps getting better due to the involvement of it's citizens.

Pretty sure the consideration of the Olive Garden and Applebees as fine dining has nothing to do with the selection of restaurants in Salem. It has everything to do with who lives here. There are some awesome places to eat here. Just look around (La Perla Tapita, Venti's, Word of Mouth, Christo's, SFNY, Willamette Noodle, La Margarita, Fuji Rice Time, La Hacienda, La Capitale, Grand Vines, Sassy Onion...way too many to mention).

It absolutely has everything to do with the people that live here. I was just commiserating with someone over this yesterday. As long as Olive Garden keeps winning "Best of" polls over fantastic local restaurants like Carusos, we will have the dining scene we have. Because good local restaurants simply don't survive here. They can't appeal to Salem (ok.... maybe just the majority of Salem, and not us readers here) the way those icky big old chains can. It's sad but true, and it is what keeps me blabbing all the time about local restaurants that I love to anyone I talk to about anything so that hopefully they can stay in business for my enjoyment!